Kalinin’ssmallfacehadbecomepainfullycontracted，andgrownoldandhaggard-looking。Rollingoverontohisbreastbeforethelanguishingfire，hewavedahandtodissipatethesmokewhichwaslazilydriftingslant-wise。
“ForseventeendaysdidIremainstretchedonasick-bed，andwasattendedbythedoctorinperson。Oneday，whensittingbymyside，heinquired:
“’Ipresumeyourintentionwastopoisonyourself，youfoolishfellow？’
“Yes，merelyTHATwaswhathecalledme——a’foolishfellow。’Yetindeed，whatwasItohim？Onlyanentitywhichmightbecomefoodfordogs，forallhecared。NordidValentinaIgnatievnaherselfpaymeasinglevisit，andmyeyesneveragainbeheldher。BeforelongsheandDr。Kliachkaweredulymarried，anddepartedtoKharkov，wherehewasassignedapostintheTchuguerskiCamp。
ThusonlytheGeneralremained。Roughandready，hewas，nevertheless，oldandsensible，andforthatreason，didnotmatter；whereforeIretainedmysituationasbefore。Onmyrecovery，hesentforme，andsaidinatoneofreproof: